STATISTICS: Homicide Takes a Holiday

Homicide, man's most violent act against man, is declining in the U.S. In
1934 the national rate was 5.8 deaths per 100,000 persons; by last year,
according to a new study of Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. policyholders,
the figure had dropped to 1.9 per 100,000. Last week,with the first 1955
statistics being tallied, the trend was still downward. Other changes on the
homicide chart:

¶The decline has been most dramatic among white males, who are being
killed at a rate 70% lower than in 1934. Only among aging nonwhite men
(55-64 years old)...